There have been claims that late
Afzal Guru in 2008 had written a letter to a lesser known editor of an Urdu
weekly in Kashmir, which has only resurfaced now. The letter reportedly claims
that late Afzal Guru did not want to label the Parliament attack as a
conspiracy, asking “not to feel ashamed of December 13th Parliament
attack”. Indian media has been quick to seize this ‘claimed letter’ and portray
it as if Afzal Guru ‘purportedly justified the attack’. The dead cannot speak
and least of all cannot write letters, moreover in their defence, hence making
claims on hitherto unknown correspondence of the dead is easy. But the living
can and should exercise logic and reasoning to such claims. Not only because
such ‘claimed letters’ concern a dead man who has been popularly viewed as
having been sacrificed by the state for its politics, but also because these
‘claims’ are connected to the Kashmir conflict in a larger way.

The ‘letter’ has been produced a
good 5 years after claimed to have been writtenby Afzal, and just days after Afzal Guru had been executed, hanging that
was followed by huge protests in Kashmir. The handling of Kashmir, post the hanging,
by the state by enforcing barricades, censorship and curfews was subject to
criticism from many sides. While the timing of the claimed ‘letter’ is in
itself questionable, the veracity of same in doubt, there are other unanswered
questions too which point to missing links in these claims.

Afzal was
lodged in extremely high security cell of Tihar Jail, guarded round the clock
by almost 50 armed policemen drawn from Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP), ITBP
(Indo Tibetan Border Police), and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). Most of
the time he was alone in the death row cell and all his communications (given
that there were very few of them in any case) were strictly monitored by the
jail authorities. How did then this ‘letter’ pass Tihar Jail scrutiny? And
given the fact that all stationary (books, paper, and postages) Afzal used in
the jail would be provided, recorded and monitored by the Jail staff in this
high security ward, how could Afzal have written such a letter without being
scrutinized?

For a moment
accepting that Afzal might have written this letter from his cell (with the
stationary and postage provided by the Jail authorities) how did the Jail
authorities not leak the contents of the letter if the 'acceptance of guilt' or
‘justification of the Parliament attack’ was in this correspondence? Clearly
all correspondence of Afzal had to be passed, vetted and forwarded by Jail
authorities. And had the jail authorities come across such a correspondence,
the case of Government of India against Afzal would have become stronger. Had
there really been such a correspondence from Afzal, would New Delhi ever miss
the chance to make it public before the hanging, only to strengthen its own
case for his execution? Remember there have been many voices criticizing the
weak defence and flawed trial (and investigations) provided to Afzal. Had Afzal
really made such an admission in the ‘claimed letter’ would New Delhi had let
go that opportunity to justify its actions?

Even if we take
the bleak possibility of Afzal writing this letter and the jail authorities
ignoring the contents and the destination of the ‘letter’, why would Afzal of all
journalists have chosen a lesser known journalist in Kashmir as its recipient? Afzal surely understood that any letter
or correspondence he would share with any journalist would make it available in
the public domain. And if Afzal really wanted the letter to be in public
domain, he would have sent it to a known journalist or a media house of repute.
There could only be two intentions for Afzal behind the correspondence of this ‘letter’,
either to have it passed to the UJC chief (United Jehad Council), who has been
addressed in the letter, or make it available in the public domain and both of
these objectives desired that this letter be send to a well known journalist or
media house, where Afzal could get a better focus on his message. What is the
footprint of the weekly that claims to have received the letter and how many in
Kashmir (leave alone Tihar) have ever heard of it before?

According to the claimed
‘recipient’ of this ‘correspondence’, Afzal had written this letter “in utter
frustration” and “he was innocent and was simply claiming something that he had
not committed”. Even if we may accept that the letter was written in
frustration, would logically Afzal not write it to his wife first rather
than a lesser known media person? After all it was Afzal’s wife who not only
followed the defence case personally in detail but was the only person who met
Afzal in jail and with whom Afzal would confide into. Understanding that such a
‘letter’ would sooner or later make it to the public domain, Afzal would have
ensured that his wife was in the know of things if such a letter ever existed. Afzal
is perceived to have died for truth and ‘dying for truth’ is different from
accepting guilt for killing people. Truth also means 'I am innocent'.

There have now been reports that
Afzals cousin has recognized the handwriting of Afzal in this ‘letter’. But
handwriting analysis was never such an easy ‘one glance’ job.Handwriting analysis is a science for
‘Questioned Document Examiners’ (QDEs). Handwriting recognition is a methodical
and tedious process where analysts must accurately distinguish between style and
individual characteristics. Handwriting analysis does not start with checking
for similarities, but with checking for differences between the original and
the claimed. Any attempt of handwriting simulation (copying handwriting) will
not be understood or recognized by a normal eye. May note that this claimed
‘letter’ of Afzal resurfaced only days after his last letter, written to his
family minutes before his execution, had been disclosed publicly, thereby
making available a specimen of his handwriting.I am not discounting the ability of Azfal’s cousin or questioning his
intent but any efficient copy of the handwriting would surely pass his eye as
an original. And let us not for a moment even discount the remote possibility
of him writing such a ‘letter’; solitary confinement, unending torture and
pressures with a looming death penalty for crimes you did not commit could make
one write anything. Keep an ordinary man in his place under such extreme
situations and chances are that he will even claim to have started 9/11.

But at times
even a detailed handwriting test can pass a fake for real. The infamous case of
the ‘lost Hitler Diaries’ is a must read in this case. On April 22, 1983 German
news magazine ‘Stern’ announced
discovery of 60 handwritten journals (diaries) supposedly written by
Adolf Hitler. The magazine had paid nearly 9 million German Marks (2.3 million
dollars) for the ‘diaries’ to a ‘supposed collector of Nazi memorabilia’ Konrad
Kujau, who claimed to have recovered them in an April 1945 air crash wreckage near
Dresden. The dairies and the text seemed quite genuine and the diaries were gradually
published by the German media while its rights were sold to several
international publications. The London
Times (who also purchased the rights) requested 3 international forensic and
writing experts to conduct a test for authenticity. After the tests all experts
agreed that the diaries were for real and had been written by the same person
(Hitler). Later it however took an ink and paper analysis of the diaries to
reveal that they were fakes. The paper was found to be in use only after 1954
(while Hitler died in 1945) and the ink test proved that the ‘diaries’ had been
written only in last 12 months (prior to the test).

The
envisaged repercussions of Afzal’s ‘claimed letter’ are far too many for Kashmir.
One it will provide enough material for New Delhi and Indian media to hit back
at claims of Afzal’s innocence in the Parliament attack and of a weak trial
provided to him. This letter could also be used by forces in Kashmir to quell
the discontent that emerged after the hanging and push for an alternative
thought for the perceived ‘miscarriage of justice’. In conflicts where the
state is often pushing against the popular sentiment on ground, even a
purported letter could be used as a psychological tool to subdue minds.

Psychological operations or
Psyops is an integral part of any conflict state and such operations are often
aimed at ‘deceive, confuse, disrupt and demoralize’. Chinese military
strategist Sun Tzu detailed this psychological manipulation as a tool of combat
in his ‘The Art of War’. And with decades of experience with Psyops, the
possibility of such ‘letters’ being used as another stealth strategy has not
been discounted by Kashmiris.

While the journalist who claims
to have this ‘letter’ has his right to seek attention and publicity, Kashmiris
also have a right to seek answers to their questions. The dead don’t write
letters, but the living do demand answers.